'Not guilty' plea to leaving son in car

A father who allegedly left his four-year-old son in a car at a Brisbane shopping centre during a heatwave will fight the charge.

The man, 37, appeared briefly in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with one count of leaving a child under 12 unattended, and pleaded not guilty.

Police say a woman found the child asleep inside a vehicle at the underground car park at New Farm, in inner city Brisbane, about 1.30pm on Sunday as temperatures were reaching the mid-30s.

The boy was allegedly rescued via an unlocked door and taken to the Lady Cilento Hospital as a precaution.

The accused, who faced court holding a pair of child's shoes belonging to a young boy sitting in the back of the court, asked for the trial to be expedited so he could "get back to Canada to my other children".

The matter will be mentioned again on February 22 and the man remains on bail.